Photos of Recovering Blue Sky Reserve and Mt. Woodson

It's hard to see in most of these photos the damage done by the fire. You really need to take this hike to get an idea of how a fire can completely destroy one hill and skip by a neighboring ridge, leaving it untouched. If you look at the photos I took last year you can see some of the effects of the fire. The trail through the Blue Sky Reserve runs just above a small creek, so it seemed to be greener along this part. On the way back I saw some unexpected animals. A man and woman each with a very large and colorful parrot on their arms.

I timed my hike perfectly - by accident. It was cool and overcast the entire trip to the top and then the sun came out. I knew the photos would look better with sunlight, but I took some when it was cloudy and on the way down I stopped to snap more pictures, but by that time I was feeling tired and soar. The photo above show the area near the top of Mt. Woodson that didn't burn. As you can see, the trail is surrounded by thick vegetation. When hiking on the trails that were burnt by the fire, the view of the hills and other trails were visible, making the hike seem like a completely different hike. I could see houses that I didn't know were there. I saw a bench with a cover sitting in the middle of a field. Lake Poway was visible from near the top of the mountain.

I know your number one question is "Did the shady tree survive?" The answer is "Yes"! However, it is almost unrecognizable, sitting all alone next to the big rock. It still provides much need shade. Also, the trail leading up to it has been modified. There is a dirt trail that zig-zags to the side of the rock, so you no longer have to climb up the rock, unless you want to stop, which I did. There were several volunteers on the Mt. Woodson trail fixing the trail by placing flat rocks in places where the trail must have been washed out. In fact, they were the same people I saw last year. The lower part of the trail near Lake Poway has been partially damaged by flowing water creating gullys, so I had to be careful where I stepped as to not twist my ankle. They have replaced and even added trail markers, making it easier to follow the trail. I didn't realize that the Mt. Woodson trail started at the junction about one mile up from the lake.